Kivon Cartwright after one his six 2013 touchdowns, this one against Texas-El Paso. Hyoung Chang, Denver Post

My story on the Colorado State Rams heading into Tuesday’s opening of spring practice is in the Sunday paper and online here.

Here’s some additional material:

— Despite the departure of Kapri Bibbs, who rushed for 1,741 yards last season as a redshirt sophomore before declaring himself eligible for the NFL draft, CSU still has Donnell Alexander, who gained 428 yards, returning at running back.

“I’m a guy who historically has played three backs,” said McElwain, who came to CSU after a stint as offensive coordinator at Alabama. “It’s one of those deals where there’s one who might end up getting more carries, but at the same time, you need to keep them fresh. In our case, we’re going to experiment a little bit there, too, bringing Jasen Oden over from the defense. He played running back in both high school and prep school, and he’s a guy we’re going to take a look at. And we have some young guys and I know I’m excited see get off that scout team field and get an opportunity to go prove themselves and play.”

Oden is a junior from Buffalo, who also attended North Carolina Tech before coming to Fort Collins.

After posting the program’s first winning record (8-6) and bowl victory since 2008, the Colorado State football team can turn its attention to replacing 11 of the 22 position starters.

The Rams lose six starters on offense and five on defense. Those are not inordinate numbers in college football. But the list of departures sure included some star power.

That includes:

Sophomore RB Kapri Bibbs, who, in his only season as a Ram, set school records with 1,741 yards rushing and 31 touchdowns scored — the latter tying Navy’s option quarterback, Keenan Reynolds, for tops nationally. Bibbs has announced his attention to declare for the 2014 NFL Draft.

Senior linebacker Shaquil Barrett was named Mountain West defensive player of the year after recording 20.5 tackles for loss, including 12 sacks.

Senior center Weston Richburg dominated the line of scrimmage and will play in the prestigious Senior Bowl.

It appears their availability for Saturday’s home game against Nevada may be doubtful at best.

“I don’t think Bernard can go; it will be a bonus if we get something out of him,” CSU coach Jim McElwain said following practice.

“With KPL, he has to be going (in practice) by tomorrow (Wednesday) or he’s not going to play. That’s just the way it is.”

Expect more playing time for two safeties, sophomore Jasen Oden and true-freshman Jake Schlager, with Oden moving to nickel. The regular nickel back, senior Shaq Bell, would slide over to cornerback if Blake can’t go.

“We just have to go with who we’ve got,” safety Trent Matthews said. “I have confidence in anybody we put out there.”

Colorado State Rams appear to be improving their pass defense at just the right time. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

How’s this for good timing? Colorado State coach Jim McElwain is praising starting cornerbacks DeAndre Elliott and Bernard Blake, and a slew of strong-armed quarterbacks await on the Rams’ schedule, beginning Saturday with UTEP’s Jameill Showers, who began his college career at Texas A&M.

“I’ll tell you, that guy has really grown up,” McElwain said of Blake, a 6-foot, 180-pound junior. “I can’t tell you how far Bernard has some, not only as a player, but as a person controlling all the things he has going on in his life, which isn’t easy.

“He has really competed. DeAndre Elliott is the same way. They have really grown up and competed on the edge.”

Senior cornerback Shaq Bell, a team leader, has been playing at the nickel.

Colorado State continues to wrap up the season with team honors, with recognition this time coming from the team itself. Defensive lineman Lanston Tanyi was named CSU’s 2012 MVP by vote of current team members.

And he deserved it.

A late summer transfer from Appalachian State, Tanyi came to the Rams as a grad student with one year of eligibility. And he made the most of it. Tanyi finished with 77 tackles (26 solo), six quarterback hurries, three sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss.

FORT COLLINS – San Jose State Week is already a motivational seven days for Colorado State, which wants to get back in the win column.

But for one of CSU’s key players, cornerback Shaq Bell, it has additional meaning: A chance to wipe away an ever-present bad memory from a year ago.

Last season, in a situation where the Rams defense needed one last stop to beat the Spartans and push their record to 4-1, instead SJSU hit on a long touchdown pass with 54 seconds left that essentially sealed its win and started CSU on a downward slide that ended nine straight losses later.

That pass went over Bell’s head.

“I thought about it a lot,” Bell said. “Three days ago I told a guy I got beat for a fade last year and I felt like I lost the game.”

Saturday, perhaps he’ll get a shot at redemption of his own. If not, it’s fine, Bell says, because “I think about it a lot, but it’s not anything that bothers me.” The receiver that caught the pass, Jabari Carr, remains on the San Jose State roster.

The twist this time around may center on his level of preparedness. When a corner gets beat, it is assumed he was at fault. But what if he was doing everything the coaches had taught, and in fact the flaw was in what he was instructed to do?

Bell is much more excited about what he’s being taught this time around. And on the off-chance that he’s involved in covering a similar route, Bell insists there’s a better opportunity for a different outcome.

“Coach (Al) Simmons has a good technique to where we don’t squeeze the fade, so just in case they throw it to the inside then I’ll be there for the pick,” he said. “If it does go outside I’ll just squeeze with the ball. So I have better technique from last year to this year.”

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

FORT COLLINS – Colorado State released its first depth chart today, and there were a few surprises contained within it. And they started with an area that had been taken for granted — the defensive alignment.

Early on it was made known CSU’s defense was switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 this season. Only, on the depth chart these are the front seven positions on defense: LDE, DT, DT, RDE, SLB, MLB, WLB.

Shaquil Barrett — a preseason all-conference selection at linebacker — is listed as a right defensive end, along with Broderick Sargent and Steven Michel.

CSU coach Jim McElwain has already said that Barrett, the team’s leading tackler from a year ago, would play both standing up and with his hand in the ground. The suggestion, however, was that he’d be a linebacker with the ability to put his hand in the ground, thus the team plays a 3-4.

FORT COLLINS – One of the more eyebrow-raising moments of Colorado State’s time at Mountain West Conference media days last month came when coach Jim McElwain leaned back in his chair to a few assembled reporters around him, looked up, and, on the subject of the secondary, said:

“I think we have a really good secondary, I really do. I don’t want to put the pressure on anybody or make predictions, but I like their skill set.”

Ok, so McElwain likes his secondary. And with a good mix of young talent and experienced players it’s not difficult to see why.

How thin is the line between Colorado State’s current 3-5 record and one that could have been 4-4, 5-3 or better?

Razor thin.

Colorado State starts a stretch run of football games this week at home against San Diego State. It cannot change the previous month of games where a considerable number of shortcomings have left it desperately seeking solutions to get back on track.

These are by no means the only ones, but had this group of plays gone CSU’s way, the conversation of coach Steve Fairchild’s status beyond this season and all of the things that ail the Rams right now probably would have taken a back seat.

Colorado State cornerback Shaq Bell, who started most of the season as a true freshman last fall, is in Arizona tonight along with many friends and family members for the BCS National Championship game.

T’Sharvan Bell, a sophomore Auburn cornerback, is expected to start against Oregon.

“I talked to him before and after every one of my games,” the CSU Bell told Rams athletic media relations chief Zak Gilbert.

The weekend was a good one for ex-Ram player and assistant coach Brian Schneider, the first-year Seattle Seahawks special team coordinator. The Seahawks advanced in the NFC playoffs this weekend.

Some consider Schneider, a former Pomona High School star, the top prospect if the CSU head coaching job re-opens at any time.

SECONDARYNewcomers: Redshirt freshman Ezra Thompson assured himself of a placer in the safety rotation while incoming freshmen Najee James and Shaq Bell could see the redshirts pulled early. Late junior college signee Dominique Vinson will help soon at cornerback.

Biggest losses: CB Nick Oppenneer is now a graduate assistant coach.

Strengths: This is a fairly experienced group with maybe more speed than years. The heart of the secondary is Elijah-Blu Smith, a brutal hitter with cornerback speed. Some of the best competition of pre-fall camp came among the safeties. An improved pass rush can’t help but make the secondary look better.

Weaknesses: There’s experience at CB in DeAngelo Wilkinson and Momo Thomas (some remember him as Gerard Thomas). There’s not much experience behind those two.

What to look for: This group has the makings of the best secondary in years. There are indications of some depth, there’s the leadership in Elijah-Blue Smith and Momo Thomas. If a few hitters emerge to join Smith and if the group is as successful forcing interceptions as it was in two-a-days, it will mark a huge improvement over last season.

Kensler joined The Denver Post in 1989 and has covered a variety of beats, including Colorado, Colorado State, golf, Olympics and the Denver Broncos. His brush with greatness: losing in a two-on-two pickup basketball game at Ohio State against two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.